Wind Meal at River Cottage Canteen, Plymouth + Mount Edgecumbe, Torpoint

I was invited to hear all about Wind Energy at Mount Edgecumbe and enjoy a meal at the River Cottage Canteen last week.

We were whisked over by ferry boat from Royal William Yard to Mount Edgecumbe (only takes about ten minutes and with the sun shining, it was very pleasant).  Royal William Yard needs some signs for car users!  I love going there and know about it - but what about others who do not?!  

Mt. Edgecumbe is a very grand building and parkland with stunning views over the River Tamar.  It would be an amazing wedding venue...and there was a wedding appointment after we left.  An interesting discussion (just about the right length too!) was held about the benefits of renewable energy, Wind power, in particular.  There were five speakers and about 150 of us in the audience.

The speakers were: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall; Nicky Conway, from Forum for the Future; Maf Smith, Deputy CEO of RenewableUK plus Robin Hanbury-Tenison Bodmin farmer, explorer and author; Bill Martin chaired the discussion, Editor of Western Morning News.

We then returned by electric cars and Land Rovers to get a ferry back to Royal William Yard.  I met a really nice Cornish food blogger, Kate (yes, another one) but the weather was now windy and grey with the threat of rain so we sat inside for the journey. This is a link to her blog which has a review of the same event (her photos are brilliant, her review of the speakers' arguments is concise, plus there is lots of other really good stuff and some delicious recipes.  There is also another really good review of the day here on Robert's blog.

The food at the River Cottage Canteen was superb.  They were catering to many media and PR people, but nevertheless I would never have guessed that they were serving to so many people.  The food was from wind-powered farms (and was not necessarily local - a fact that Hugh mentioned and apologised for)  but it was wonderful.

I had the following and it was all of the highest order and absolutely delicious:

Vine House organic cauliflower soup with Lincolnshire Poacher fritter

Sheepdrove organic farm lamb, parsnip and thyme gratin, green sauce (amazing!!)

Caramelised apple tart with Mackie's traditional ice cream and yummy Yorkshire organic vanilla ice cream (also amazing - a true 'caramelised' Tarte Tatin style one, and the two types of ice cream perfectly matched it, there was also a splash of custard!)

Over lunch, I sat opposite Nicky Conway from Forum for the Future.  And yes, we talked a little about renewable energy....but mostly about Devon and food!  There was no time for tea or coffee as my lift arrived and we were a little bit later than anticipated.

Thanks to all the wind powered food suppliers, Renewable UK plus the River Cottage Canteen and Forum for the Future plus the fab PR agency, HK Strategies.

I was a guest, but I was free to write what I wished.  

Langage Farm Clotted Cream - Devon's Best

These pictures don't really need any additional description!  

One of my favourite things to eat: chocolate brownies made by my daughter (she is 13 and already a great cook) using the River Cottage recipe, no nuts for us, and then glammed up with some local raspberries and a mountain of Devon Langage Farm Clotted Cream and served in a vintage glass sundae dish from Antiques Ad Hoc in Ashburton. Perfectly delicious.  And a great treat to serve some visiting members of the family at the weekend.

Making Strawberry Jam is Easy with the River Cottage Preserves Book by Pam Corbin

We picked a couple of kilos of strawberries at Netherton on the banks of the River Teign in Devon.  Their soft fruit season has been early this year and due to financial pressures, they're closing their Pick Your Own at the end of the season, which could be within a fortnight -so hurry to get your strawberries, tayberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants.

It took four of us about half an hour to pick this lot - I think it was roughly 2kg strawbs and 1kg raspberries and it came to just under £20.

I used my regular River Cottage Preserves book by Pam Corbin (£8.99 from Amazon).  A simple to follow recipe, with a few tried and tested tips e.g. plenty of lemon juice added to the strawberry jam and use of jam sugar (with added pectin to help it set).

I was tired, it was sunny and I wasn't really in the mood for a long-winded jam making session but Pam insisted that fresh fruit are essential.  So I started at 9pm when it got a bit cooler in my sun-baked kitchen.  By 10:30pm I had finished a whole batch of strawberry jam - about 10 jars and a more modest 3 jars of raspberry jam.

Stage 1: just in the pan

Stage 2: bringing to the boil

Stage 3: almost on the boil, starting to break up

Stage 4: Scary hot sugar rolling boil that unexpectedly rises up the pan at an alarming rate - help!

This batch should see us through the year to go with our breakfast scones and toast. I thoroughly recommend 'Pam the Jam's' no-nonsense approach to preserving.  She got me hooked into it (even when over-tired, hot and bothered and not really in the mood.)

Brewing My Own: Elderflower Cordial....and Elderflower Champagne

There are probably only a couple of days left of elderflower picking.  Certainly here in South Devon, the creamy-white blooms are starting to fade and turn brown and a little musty smelling - upcountry folks might have better luck.

 My basket of blooms - far more than was needed:

I decided to make a batch of cordial, which really is one of the simplest recipes in the world.  I used the River Cottage Preserves cookbook recipe (a similar recipe has been reproduced here on Nipitinthebud's great blog) which just involves lots of sugar, lemon juice and elderflowers.  Leave the cordial to infuse overnight and the next day it was ready to strain and use.  

It’s a joy to drink this with sparkling water and plenty of ice on a summer’s afternoon, and even more fun spiked with vodka, a sprig of mint and a handful of raspberries during the evening.  The cordial was a doddle and here it is - four bottles for immediate drinking and a further one litre in the freezer.

 I’m a little more concerned about the Champagne....I’ve toyed with Pastymuncher’s ideas but decided to use Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe for this and there are MANY MANY worrying comments about Champagne explosions, glass being embedded in bookcases and C02 eruptions that have hit the ceiling.  Grazing Kate has been 'very brave' and made six litres of the stuff...Mix it all together, leave for about four days until it starts to ferment (very exciting – that happened today) - those white bloom areas that look like reflections are the signs either that it's working or that it's mouldy and it's all gone horribly wrong (I'm an optimist and bottled the stuff!):

 and then strain it into PLASTIC bottles.  Granted, the lovely swing top Grolsch style bottles look far more attractive than this (hmm, nice presentation in the Asda bottle)

But shards of exploded glass embedded in my furniture and skin? – Er, no way!  I’ve done a bit of research and plan to ‘burp’ the bottles every couple of days for a week or so (by gently loosening the screw cap and relieving the pressure) and then it should be ready to drink after a mere seven days.  Homemade brew – feels just a little bit naughty, but damn clever if it works.

Devon Book Review: A Taste of the Unexpected by Mark Diacono

Just a quick post to express how much pleasure I got from reading this wonderful book.  The experts on Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4 a few weeks ago were quick to dismiss people's desire to grow 'weird' vegetables - apparently white carrots are tasteless and some of the more extravagantly coloured vegetables often fail to thrive and are generally a waste of time.  So that's that, I thought, don't bother with all that fancy schmancy stuff in my veg patch.  Then...along comes this book by Mark Diacono.  He's one of Hugh's River Cottage experts, runs courses there and grows at Otter Farm near Honiton.

I unreservedly love this book because:

a) there aren't any pictures of the author posing artfully either with cleverly positioned 'mud' on knees or flour on cheek, or smiling winsomely at his prize veg with shabby chic decor in the background and old enamel mug

b) he actually took all the photos of the gardens and veg inside the book (repect!)

c) it also has recipes - some of which are a bit fancy, but some plain and easy

d) he really inspired me to experiment - hell, why not grow apricots, goji berries, szechuan pepper in our back gardens / window boxes

e) only one cute picture of child in a garden (I am really naffed off with cookery / lifestyle writers getting their kids involved in photoshoots)

f) loved his ethos of 'grow expensive/ unbuyable produce' rather than onions, potatoes, carrots type stuff

So, let's grow and eat day lilies - this was a fab bit of advice as I was sat outside next to my sprouting day lilies while I was reading this bit.  I reached over, snapped off a flower bud and it did indeed taste a bit like a French bean but with a slight chilli kick.  How naughty and lovely.  Eating flowers. Nasturtiums are budding so I shall be sprinkling them on my salads, deep frying  day lilies and planning how to fit an apricot into our full-the-brim garden.  And definitely some Egyptian Walking Onions (what a name!).  And possibly some Japanese wineberries just so I can make the delicious sounding Japanese Wineberry Trifle.

He's also got a really good blog.  I have a new foodie hero and, what's more, he's a Devon lad!

And this is our vege patch at the moment- not a gojiberry in sight.

And I had to include a picture of our Angelica (yes that green twiggy crystalline stuff that no-one has put on a cupcake even ironically since the 70s) which has turned into a beanstalk - it was 6ft tall until it keeled over in the wind.

Chocolate Profiteroles - So Easy a Child Could Make Them...?

My children surprised me the other day by announcing they were going to make profiteroles.  I've never made them before and have always regarded choux pastry as 'too tricky'.  Plus, I was busying myself with other things, so I agreed, but told them that I wouldn't be able to help.

Surprisingly rapidly, they had summoned up these with the help of the River Cottage Family Cookbook:

They weren't prepared for how much they expand during cooking and the little lumps of pastry mostly merged into one big choux bun.  The pasty doesn't have that much sugar in and when we tasted it, a bit warm from the oven, we all agreed it tasted (and looked) like Yorkshire Pudding - obviously, as the recipe is very similar.  The four profiteroles around the edges of the tin were perfect.

The children still weren't convinced.  

"We've just made Yorkshire Pudding and it's rubbish," they sighed, ready to chuck them away.

After dinner,  I convinced them to make a chocolate sauce regardless and that we could fill the profiteroles and the big blobby one with vanilla ice cream instead of whipped cream.  The results were delicious.  Yorkshire Pud with chocolate sauce and ice cream perhaps, but delicious nevertheless.

River Cottage Bread Making - Sheer Pleasure

These were my very own finished products - I kid you not. Perfectly imperfect - two loaves and a handful of bread rolls.

I borrowed this book from the library: Bread: River Cottage Handbook No. 3

and couldn't wait to get started.
This photo shows my basic dough after kneading it for a good 10 - 15 minutes.

The book does go into ALL the details for making a really good basic loaf - it recommends perfecting that before moving on to the trickier options - does anyone outside of bakeries actually make ciabatta? Must take 72 hours if you do it properly. This was after about an hour of letting it rise - certainly looks bigger....but now you have to deflate it (knock it back). Feels so good though - breadmaking is a really sensual experience - dough just feels so soft, warm and elastic and you know you're going to eat it too.